Read our monthly newsletter highlighting stories that will help you connect back to purpose; resources that can help achieve your personal and organizational goals; and stories of success from the field. We hope you find this useful.

Top 10 Mistakes in Setting Hospital Goals
By Bill Bielenda, Studer Group Coach

For years healthcare leaders have been evaluated by means of a "Does Not Meet/Meets/Exceeds" scale. Subjective in nature, this type of assessment does not really indicate what the leader accomplished. A far more fair method is the use of a clear, objective, and weighted evaluation based on specific goal achievement.

The evaluation makes use of a one-to-five rating system for each goal. A rating of one is assigned when a leader has fallen below target, while two means partial goal achievement. Three denotes the goal was met. The leader who gets a rating of four surpassed the goal, while one who merits a five significantly exceeded expectations.

Further, each goal is assigned a weight — a percentage — based on its importance. One goal might be allocated 40 percentage points because of its significance to the organization, while another might be set at 15 percentage points due to its lesser priority. As a result, when leaders consider the assigned weights (all of which add up to 100 percent), they know where to put the most energy.

Goals — which should be attainable yet challenging for the leadership ranks — are typically set around key focus areas often referred to as pillars. Typically these operational dimensions are service, people, quality, finance and growth.

However, initial implementation of this leader evaluation system can be challenging for some organizations. The good news is that missteps they make can be fixed with an understanding of what went wrong.

Click here for the top 10 most common mistakes made during the first year of rollout and how they can be handled.

To view the goals and 90-day action plans for top performing leaders that have used Studer Group's Leader Evaluation Manager™ software solution visit http://www.studergroup.com/LEM.

You Can Overcome the ED "Resistance Reality"
Excerpted from Excellence in the Emergency Department, by Stephanie Baker, RN, CEN, MBA

In healthcare today, change is the only constant. We face reimbursement changes, regulatory changes, economic changes and more patients than ever. And as the external operating environment gets increasingly difficult, great leaders know they must adapt to survive and thrive. That includes leaders in an area that has occasionally been known to resist change: the Emergency Department.

Leaders drive change, so it's important that we personally commit to change, position it well, and role model it. We must explain to staff that we are embracing change to respond to the external operating environment, and because the literature shows us that adopting new evidence-based practices will deliver better clinical and quality outcomes for patients. Sometimes we find that even if we, as leaders, are committed to change, our staff just won't fall in line. Why are they so resistant? And can we succeed in the face of such resistance? Once you know the answer to the first question, you can ensure that the answer to the second one is yes.

The main ways to effectively address employee resistance are:

Strong communication
Effective training
Consistent reward and recognition.

Put them into practice and you can create a "no excuses" Emergency Department—one marked by elevated performance and better clinical outcomes.

To read more and learn more about strategies to manage resistance, go to www.studergroup.com/excellenceintheed and download the entire book excerpt.

For more information on Specialized Emergency Department Coaching from Studer Group, visit http://www.studergroup.com/edexcellence.

Treasure Hunt and Bounty Hunt: Becoming a "Flow Detective"
Excerpted from Hardwiring Flow, By Thom Mayer, MD, FACEP, FAAP, and Kirk Jensen, MD, MBA, FACEP

What is "flow"? Basically, it's defined as adding value to processes or services by increasing benefits, decreasing burdens, or some combination of both when applied to the movement of patients through the network of service transitions and queues that characterize modern healthcare. Leaders must be trained in and become experts at identifying opportunities to increase value (the treasure hunt) and eliminate waste (the bounty hunt) by using tools such as value-stream mapping, queuing theory, service transitions, evidence-based medicine, and Evidence-Based Leadership^SM to guide their detective work.

This will assure we have the right resources for the right patients in the right environment for the right reasons with the right team at the right time—every time! Armed with the new vision that the benefit-to-burden definition of flow allows, leaders and managers to become "flow detectives," who prowl their units in search of the culprits (usually systems and processes, more rarely people) who provide no benefit and increase burdens to patients and providers alike. By sleuthing through their domain, they can also help their staff identify those things that work effectively so they can be accentuated.

The bounty hunt and treasure hunt approach requires us to lead our units with a new spirit that encourages innovation.

To read more, go to www.studergroup.com/hardwiringflow and download the book excerpt.

Declare Victim-Thinking DOA
Excerpted from Eat That Cookie!, By Liz Jazwiec, RN and Studer Group National Speaker

Without a doubt one of the biggest challenges healthcare workers face today is victim-thinking. Once you start practicing this "deadly sin," it can be a very difficult habit to break. It poisons you. Worse, it renders you incapable of being successful. "Victim thinkers" tend to come up with just one reason why they can't be successful—or why they won't reach this or that goal—and then they give up. Good leaders don't let that happen on their watch.

A good coach doesn't go into a locker room at halftime with a team that is getting the stuffing kicked out of them and say, "Those other guys are huge. Don't worry about getting the ball. Don't worry about scoring any points. Let's just pray we all make it back to the bus without anybody getting hurt!"Unfortunately, in the healthcare world, I hear leaders saying similar things all the time. They tell their staff, "I know it's busy. Hang in there! Just do whatever you have to do to make it through the day!"

Of course, these leaders are only making a difficult situation worse. They might think that they are being sympathetic or helpful, but they're not. They're just reinforcing victim-thinking and allowing their staff to be less than they can be. (Hey, wonder why the Army doesn't use "Be less than you can be" as their slogan?) To be a good leader, you must create a positive work environment by eliminating the victim mentality in yourself and your team.

For more information on Eat That Cookie and to read a complimentary excerpt from the book, visit http://www.studergroup.com/eatthatcookie.

For more information on how to arrange for Liz Jazwiec or other Studer Group National Speakers to come speak at your organization please email sheila.martin@studergroup.com.

Congratulations to Magruder Hospital for being selected as the October Fire Starter of the Month!

Magruder Hospital and Clinics is a not-for-profit, critical access hospital located along the shores of Lake Erie in Port Clinton, Ohio. President and CEO, Clifford Harmon, believes improving performance in the three pillars, People, Service and Quality has positively impacted their Finance and Growth Pillars.

In August of 2007, after examining approaches toward service excellence, senior leaders launched the foundations of Evidence-Based Leadership^SM learned at Taking You and Your Organization to the Next Level. Two key foundations are leadership development and leader evaluation. Becoming a Rural Partner helped them assemble material for a two-day leadership development institute where the entire leadership team was introduced to the concepts from the Healthcare Flywheel®: purpose and worthwhile work at the hub, passion, pillars and principles. The organization committed to excellence and our flywheel was set in motion.

Click here to learn more about Magruder Hospital and the Fire Starter of the Month award.

Sharron "Kay" Thornton, 60, went blind nine years ago from a rare disorder called Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The disorder left the surface of her eyes so severely scarred she was legally blind. But doctors from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine determined the inside of her eyes were still functional enough that she might one day see with the help of a procedure called modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (or MOOKP), where a slice of her tooth is inserted into her eye.

Click here to watch this inspirational video from her recent appearance on ABC News' Good Morning America.

This blog written by Quint Studer titled “How Much Evidence is Enough?” references an experience Quint recently had while speaking to a physician group. At that event Quint tells that “a physician in the room stated that he did not believe the patient satisfaction survey was of much value due to the fact that it does not impact clinical outcomes. He also felt that a patient could be very satisfied, yet not receive good clinical care.” Quint responds to the physician’s statement in this blog.

Quint's Blog: How Much Evidence is Enough?

Final Rankings of Modern Healthcare's 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare Released
Modern Healthcare magazine
October 26, 2009

Making better leaders is investment in success
Quint Studer
Providence Business News
October 19, 2009

Are You Building Strong Emotional Bank Accounts with Your Employees?
Quint Studer
MyMidwest magazine
September 1, 2009

If It Is to Be, It's Up to Me - Four ways healthcare professionals can rediscover inspiration
Rich Bluni, RN and Studer Group National Speaker
EMS Responder – October 22, 2009

An Organizational Strategy for Communicating Labor Reductions
HFM magazine – October 2009

Book Review: Hardwiring Excellence: Purpose, Worthwhile Work and Making a Difference
hHotlog.com

The "good behavior contract": Does it really work?
HRMorning.com

Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz - Does Leadership Training at Your Organization Get Results?
Studer Group Twitter Post
October 27, 2009

Palmetto Health Breast Center Receives Accreditation from NAPBC
July 29, 2009

NWF Blood Services / Studer winners named
Gulf Breeze News – October 1, 2009

Upcoming Institutes and Conferences

Taking You and Your Organization to the Next Level with Quint Studer
Nov. 18–19, 2009 - Denver, CO
Dec. 9–10, 2009 - Tampa, FL
Jan. 20–21, 2010 - Pensacola, FL
Feb. 17–18, 2010 - Los Angeles, CA
March 9–10, 2010 - Dallas, TX
April 21–22, 2010 - Boston, MA

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

What’s Right in Health Care^SM 2010
Dallas, TX - Oct. 18 – 20, 2010

Upcoming Webinars*

FREE STREAMING VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE:

Inspired Nurse by Rich Bluni, RN

Work-Life Blend and Healthcare by Jackie Gaines, MS, BSN

LAUNCHING SOON:

Professional Well-Being and Resilience during Difficult Times
Jay Kaplan, MD, FACEP, Studer Group Medical Director and National Speaker
Available starting November 4, 2009

Hourly Rounding
Lyn Ketelsen, RN, MBA an d Studer Group Coach Leader
Available starting November 18, 2009

*All webinars are available on-demand 24/7 for one year beginning on their start date.

Click here for a complete list of available Studer Group webinars.

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